11 year old rescue

[mariannamarianna]

I've read through soo many threads on here before adopting Felix so wanted to pop him on here and thank you all for the info!

He was given up by his owner as she said he had become to aggressive to deal with but he's been here a week and is the loveliest cat. His previous owner had him the whole 11 years and said the behaviour started after her husband died. He Plays well sleeps on my lap loves being stroked. Hasn't shown one bit of aggression. He was in the rescue for three months and they said the same that he was calm. Has anyone had this before I am worried once he's completely settled he might start showing some aggression but I just can't imagine him doing so. He's absolutely perfect.

He was obviously the husbands cat, and possibly she hadn't bonded with him as much. Add grief and possibly resentment and I can see why she wanted him removed and maybe used aggression as an excuse for the rescue to take him in quicker....or maybe your new baby is just happy and relaxed with you.

Enjoy. He looks lovely

He was given up by his owner as she said he had become to aggressive to deal with but he's been here a week and is the loveliest cat. His previous owner had him the whole 11 years and said the behaviour started after her husband died

This is really heartbreaking, the poor thing. I'm glad he's found a loving home with you.

I wonder if maybe he was more her husbands cat and she never really understood how to behave around him so either she was misinterpreting his behaviour or he was reacting to poor handling?

Ah yeah thanks I did think maybe he was more the husbands cat I just can't imagine after having him 11 years giving him up but grief is hard I get that. He's my first cat I went looking for a younger kitten but saw him and couldn't bear the thought of him being there for any longer! Luckily the other cats there hasn't been there too long at all.

Oh, he is so lovely!

Completely different but we rehomed our lovely girl direct from a family because she was being terrorised by their (very sweet) little boy. They had had her since she was a kitten, pre children, but she had become a nervous wreck. She is the bossiest, most confident cat here, and we are grateful every day that they decided to do the best by her.

Oh she's lovely I don't understand how cats can manage to get into the most unimaginable places. Felix has not gone outside yet they said to wait two weeks but he doesn't seem desperate to get out at all.

That is our shed roof, not the house - but previously she had been an indoor cat. Now she is 100% living her best life, and I am sure Felix will too!

Bless you for giving him a chance. He looks blissful on your bed. He might have been a bit confused at what happened at the previous home. I wonder if she just wasn't good with him and he's now very happy not to be there anymore. Enjoy your new little friend

Well done for adopting a senior cat. I'm sure he'll give you years of love. He looks an absolute darling.

The first thing the woman at the RSPCA said to me when I phoned to register an interest in my boy was “are you sure? He bites!”

we said yes and have had the odd playful nip but ultimately have adopted the snuggliest, most affectionate cat I have ever met- he snuggles my husband’s lap all day, and my feet by night and neither of us can leave the room without him.

your story made me feel all warm and fuzzy, he looks such a happy boy! And here is my also ginger and white happy boy!

my parents also adopted a cat from a neighbour who moved away and upon taking him to the vets saw “warning- vicious cat” on the top of his notes! We never even got a hiss or a paw out of him, his entire life and he was a very friendly boy!

Congratulations on your new owner - Felix is very handsome, & he looks the absolute picture of satisfaction (catisfaction?) in that photo 😻

As PPs have said, it seems vanishingly unlikely Dr Felix there is about to transform into the feline version of Mr Hyde; but rather that previous aggression was [intolerance of] his grief & confusion [when widow of “real” owner was trying to cope with her own] &/or the previous owner couldn’t read cats’ body language & was basically provoking him into what she then understood as completely unwarranted aggression. She might also have been generally struggling to cope after being widowed so a few swipes & hisses that normally wouldn’t have registered might genuinely have seemed overwhelming to her & like a level of aggression she couldn’t deal with (all the more so if Felix had indeed been affectionate until her husband’s death: it could easily feel like another kind of loss).

If Felix spent 3 months in the Rescue - an environment that is stressful even in the best circumstances for the most confident cats for the briefest time - without showing any aggression it won’t have been a cunning plan to lull the humans into a false sense of security. Adult cats are the most intelligent domestic animal (they have the IQ of a child between the age of 2 & 3 years) & they have a high social intelligence but they lack the level of cognitive development for executing a plan of that kind. Which is worth spelling out, because looping back to the surrender of Felix to the Rescue: if his former owner was interpreting Felix’s actions as having a specific motivation &/or Felix generally as thinking as a human would, that might have made any aggression seem calculated && thus far worse than the reality.

Awe he looks very at home.

Cats do settle when they have the right owner.

One of my foster cats wasn't much of a people person until a lady about to turn 90 arrived to look at her.

THe cat sat on the lady's knee, seemed to go, "Oh this is where I should be" and settled down to sleep.

The cat was 19 so it was a perfect match of two older ladies.

He’s absolutely gorgeous!!
well done on giving him a safe and loving home. He was meant to live his senior years with you.